Times Leader 07-03-2012

SHARAPOV A OUSTED Sharapova ousted Top-seeded Maria Shara- pova was overpowered in a 6-4, 6-3 loss to No.15 Sabine Lisicki. The 2004 Wimbledon champion was bidding to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2002 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. 1B SPORTS SHOWCASE AMERICAN LEAGUE RAYS 4 YANKEES 3 NATIONAL LEAGUE PIRATES 1 1 ASTROS 2 CUBS 4 BRAVES 1 IL BASEBALL IRONPIGS 5 SWB Y ANKEE S 4 C M Y K WILKES-BARRE, P A TUESDAY, JUL Y 3, 2012 50¢ timesleader.com The Times Leader 7 6 4 9 8 0 Musicians provide a riverside serenade for W-B crowd. NEWS, 4A Jazzed up on the riverbanks Special hearing aid works ’crazy’ miracles HEAL TH, 1C A freaky kind of technology INSIDE A NEWS: Local 3A Nation & World 5A Obituaries 8A Editorials 11 A B SPORTS: 1B Business 7B Stocks 7B Weather 8B C HEALTH : 1C Birthdays 5C Television 6C Crossword/Horoscope 7C Comics 8C D CLASSIFIED: 1D WILK ES-BA RRE -- The city coul d be liab le for thousan ds of doll arsin fue l tax esif it’ s unab le to document that nearly 18,000 gallons of unaccounted for fuel were used solely for municipal purposes. Municipalities, school districts and certain other nonprofit enti- ties are exempt from paying taxes on gas olin e and die sel . But they must be able to document the fuel was used for official purposes,ElizabethBrassell,press secret ary for thestate Reve nueDe- partment, said Monday . Ifnot,the sta tecoul d seekto re - coup the tax es, which this yea r equaled 31.2 cents per gallon for gasolin e and 38.1 cents per gallon fordiesel , on undocumentedfuel. “Anenti tyhas tomaintai n a dai - ly acco unti ng record of fuel re- ceived,purchasedandofconsump- tion,”Brassell said. “Whene ver we come across information that the appr opri atetax wasnot paid... we could go after taxes that are due the commonw ealth.” Cityofficials onFridaysaid they cannot explain a discrepancy be- twe en theamountof fuelrepor ted on log sheets by employees and a computer -gener ated report that show s how much fuel was dis- pensed from the tanks between Dec. 1, 201 1 and June 22. The TimesLeaderrevi ewshoweda dif- ference of 10,260 gallons of gaso- lineand7,620gallonsofdieselfuel. Bras sel l saidshe coul d notcom- menton whe therthe Depa rtme nt of Rev enue will audit Wi lke s- Barre,because such investi gations are confidenti al. Spea kinggener ally , shesaid the department has the authority to cond uctan audi t ifit rec eive sinfor- mationthat questio ns whetherthe fuel was used for unau thor ize d purposes. Missing fuel could cost W-B The state could go after more than $6,000 in taxes on unaccounted-for gas, diesel. By TERRIE MORGAN-BESE CKER [email protected] INSIDE: There’s no excuse for lack of oversight, Page11A State does a leak check, Page12A See GAS, Page12A HAZLETON – U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta is challenging what he says is President Ba- rack Obama’s decision to grant de facto amnesty to as many as 1.4 million illegal aliens. In a press conference Monday at his Ha- zle ton offi ce, Bar let ta claimed Obama does not hav e the powe r to use “pr ose cut oria l dis cre - tion”in thegran ting of in- definitely renewable two- year work permits to illegal aliens who meet certain criteria. Barlet ta, R-Haz leton , said Congress took discretion away from the exec uti ve bra nch in 1996 whe n it passe d theIllegalImmigrati on Refo rm and Immigrants Responsibility Act. “That law clearly spells out the actions that must be taken by feder al officials,” Barletta said. “In other words, the discretion that President Obama claims he can useno long er exis ts.Congressdeliber ately eliminated it in 1996. “By stating they still have it, President Obama is actually ordering federal immigration officials to break the law.” The White House did not respond Mon- day to The Times Leader’ s requ est for comment. Barlet ta is bas ing his acti ons on the opinion of Kris Kobach, the secretary of state in Kansas and the author of Hazleton city’s Immigration Reform Act. Barletta, 56, has called for hearings into Barletta calls out Obama U.S. rep. says president’s decision on illegal immigrants oversteps limits. By BILLO’BOYLE [email protected] Barletta P LYMOUTH – The theft of American flags from the Vietnam War Memo- rialon MainStree t inthis West Side commun ity is espec iallyupsett ingto Clyd e Pete rs. TheVietnamveter an ledthe cam- pai gn to rai sefundsto erectthe me- morialthatbearsthe namesof sev en Plymou th res ident s whowerekilled Day and a lot of people would stop andtake pictur es,”Peter s said.“And now somebody who has no respect fortheflag orthe sac rif ice s allvete r- stre et,” Pete rs said.“We thinksome kids decide d to have some ‘fun. ’ Whoe ver is res ponsi ble should pay forwhatthey did .” The memo rial and the site that was deve loped to house it cost arou nd $1 0,000, he said. The Ply- mouth American Legion Post 463 pla nte d flo we rsto spr uceup thedis- play. Peters said that when the granite memorial was set in place, he in- CLARK VAN ORDEN/THE TIMES LEADER Several American flags were stolen recently from the Vietnam War Memorial on West Main Street in Ply- mouth. Shown at the site is Clyde Peters of the Plymouth VFW who is one of the volunteers who take care of the memorial. "It’s difficul t to believe that someone would have such disrespect for our flag and our veterans. They obviously don’t understand the meaning of the American flag and the sacrifices made by our veterans." U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta Val or di sh on or ed Flags stolen from Plymouth’s Vietnam site To obtain a flag or to help the VFW Post 1425 to buy more, contact Clyde Peters at 762-2907 , stop by the post home at 11 1 W. Main St., Ply mouth, or call 779-9327. HOW TO HELP By BILLO’BOYLE [email protected]

Times Leader 07-03-2012

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